Coello/Tapia Pull Off the Impossible - 1-5 Down in the Tie-Break, Win Valencia

FIP announces 2027 rule changes - more prize money for early rounds, top players barred from lower tours - The biggest structural change: top-4 players can't enter FIP Gold events, top-24 men/top-20 women excluded from Silver. Early-round ranking points increase at Major/P1/P2 level. Counting tournaments drop from 22 to 21. Player welfare is the headline - but protecting lower-ranked players' pathways might matter more long-term. (Padel FIP)

UK padel takes over warehouses - 1M+ sq ft leased in 18 months, Segro joins the LTA - Padel operators have leased over 1 million square feet of UK industrial space in the last 18 months, up 390% year-on-year. CoStar now tracks padel as a "distinct occupier category" alongside logistics and data centres. FTSE 100 property giant Segro has partnered with the LTA. When commercial real estate analysts start tracking your sport, it's not a trend anymore. (City AM)

The 59x gap: padel vs tennis prize money gets quantified - The Italy Major winner earned €47,250 per player. Roland Garros singles winner earned €2,800,000. That's a 59x gap - widening to 88x at first-round level (€984 vs €87,000). The Italy Major was padel's first event to break €1M total prize pool. Progress? Yes. Enough? Not even close. (Skull Padel)

Canada's padel moment arrives - CBC feature, first national championship in 2027 - Canada's national broadcaster aired a major padel feature. The Canadian Padel Association announced a 2027 national championship with a $500,000 prize pool. From a chicken-wire court in Calgary in 1992 to a half-million-dollar national tournament - padel's 35-year Canadian journey is finally accelerating. (CBC News)

The Galán-Lebrón handshake refusal is the story nobody wanted — The Valencia P1 semifinal between Chingotto/Galán and Lebrón/Augsburger ended without a handshake. During the match, Galán complained that Lebrón spoke to him mid-point. Lebrón was also seen urging Augsburger to hit Galán directly in the chest. Galán called it "bochornoso" — shameful. Lebrón refused the post-match handshake with the chair umpire too. Both players have their perspective and neither has been officially sanctioned. But whatever the rights and wrongs, a no-handshake moment between two of padel's biggest names — broadcast globally — is not a good look for a sport trying to grow its audience and attract new fans. (Marca, Padel Tonic)

Smash Padel secures £1.25M to go from 5 to 20 UK sites - The coaching-led operator raised from Middleton Enterprises. Taunton opens this summer, three more sites by year-end. The pitch: grow the sport first, monetise second. A different model from the court-booking operators dominating UK padel. (Business News Wales)